HomeMy WebLinkAboutCUP 146Bx1; Church of Jesus Christ - LDS; Conditional Use Permit (CUP) (11).
Felicia C. Brechtel
3676 Monroe Street
Carlsbad, CA 92008
(760) 720-9807
October 11,2005
Planning Commission
City of Carlsbad Planning Department
1635 Faraday Avenue
Carlsbad, CA 92008-73 14
Re: Case File 148(B) xl
Church of Jesus Christ - LDS CUP Extension
Honorable Planning Commission:
I received a Notice of Public Hearing for the above case. Unfortunately I will be out of
town on the date of the hearing and will not be able to attend. However, I do have one major
concern with regard to extending the above CUP, and that is the issue of parking.
I live across the street from the Church, 3 houses south of the intersection of Chestnut and
Monroe, on the east side. I have been living in this home for approximately 4 years. As you may
know, our neighborhood is severely impacted by public facilities. There is a high school, junior
high, elementary school, special school and two churches all within 2 blocks of my home.
During the school year, we have high school students parking on the street, because the high
school does not have enough parking, and students walking to school or being dropped off by
their parents. The streets are filled with cars. Thankfully, there are no students on the weekend.
However, both churches have numerous parishioners that attend services on Sunday,
again filling up the street with cars. We always have people parking in front of our house who
are attending the Church of Jesus Chst, even though the Church has a parking lot. These
services go on all day on Sunday, not just in the morning. Either the Church does not have
enough parking for its use, or church goers are choosing to park on the street so that they do not
get stuck waiting in line to exit the parking lot. Either way, the result is the same for us. The
streets are, yet again, filled with cars.
When I first moved to my home, the Church parking lot was completely open. However,
shortly after I moved here, the Church constructed gates to barricade the majority of the parking
lot. Only about 20 spaces at the very front of the Church were still available after the gates were
locked. Recently, the Church installed additional barricades which now completely block all
access to the Church parking lot. The gates are rarely open, except for Church services. The
Church is not making any of its parking spaces available for the public at any time.
It seems to me that the we are bearing the burden of the Church use, without the benefit
of at least having some parking available that we can offer to visitors or use ourselves, if need be.
If nothing else, if the Church were at all interested in the community, it could help solve some of
the parking issues of the community by making its parking lot available during the week. If the
Church does not want to have students parking in the lot, perhaps it can negotiate a deal with the
school District to allow the lot to become a teacher parking lot during the week, freeing up space
on school property for students to park. However, rather than help to solve the community
problem, the Church currently does nothing but add to the problem.
I therefore request that the City ensure that there is adequate parking for the Church, including
any anticipated increase in services, so that people attending the Church do not have to park on
the street. I also request that the City require, as a condition of any extension of the CUP, that
the Church make its parking lot available to the community.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this project. In addition, please place my name on
the mailing list to receive any additional public notices for this project.
Felicia C. Brechtel